PEI Green Caucus

10/15/2026

STATEMENT: MLA Karla Bernard calls for support to secure a permanent home for Charlottetown Farmers’ Market

Farmers' markets have always been such magical places to me and I know I am not alone as I consider the crowds our local farmers' markets attract every single week. For decades, the Charlottetown Farmers’ Market has brought Islanders together, supported local farmers and artisans, and given small businesses a place to grow.

Following the devastating fire on Christmas Day, vendors have worked hard to keep the market going at its temporary location on North River Road. But they need a permanent home where they can plan for the future, welcome more vendors, and continue contributing to our local economy.

Last April in the Legislature, I asked the Minister of Agriculture for an update on what government is doing to ensure that the Charlottetown Farmers' Market Co-operative gets back to a secure, long-term location as soon as possible. The Minister agreed with me on the importance of the Market for our city, our province, and our local producers, but the issue of securing a permanent location remains unsolved.

The federal government needs to take meaningful action to resolve this situation. That means working with the Charlottetown Farmers’ Market Co-operative and the Epekwitnewaq Mi’kmaq to negotiate a solution that respects the sovereignty and wisdom of the original people of this land and protects the interests of everyone involved.

I’m calling on the federal government to work collaboratively with the Co-operative and the Epekwitnewaq Mi’kmaq to reach a lasting agreement. Islanders deserve to know that this important community institution has a future here in our city.

Supporting the farmers’ market means supporting Island farmers, local artisans, small businesses, local food security, and the community connections that make PEI special. We should be working together at every level of government to help make that happen.

I encourage Islanders to continue supporting the vendors at the North River Road location while we work toward a permanent solution.

Karla Bernard
MLA Charlottetown-Victoria Park

10/02/2026

Thank you to Prince Edward Island Nurses' Union President Kim Sears and Executive Director Andrea Bird for meeting with Tayte Willows, MLA for District 16 Cornwall-Meadowbank and Green Leader Matt MacFarlane this week to discuss their important work and advocacy on behalf of Island nurses. The Green Caucus is committed to working with Island nurses so we can build the strong healthcare system that Islanders depend on.

09/24/2026

Statement from Matt MacFarlane: Government must act now to protect families at Evergreen Village

Two years ago when 57 families in Evergreen Village in Summerside were served eviction notices by their landlord, the then-Minister of Housing said the government would “100 percent be on board” with purchasing the land at the mobile home park to protect residents from being displaced and potentially becoming unhoused.

Since then, these families have lived with the uncertainty of losing their homes. The government has repeatedly said that, despite its efforts, it has been unable to reach a fair agreement with the landlord to purchase the property.

When I asked the current Minister of Housing for an update on the situation in May, he said, “We can’t go out and buy and overpay for a piece of land because the landlord is putting leverage on its residents.” That very reason is why I also asked the Minister to consider expropriating the land.

These are 57 families in our community at risk of losing their homes. Government has publicly acknowledged that it has been unable to find a reasonable solution with the landlord. And now, residents are taking their fight to IRAC, in hopes of delaying the eviction date of January 24, 2027. But that won’t bring a solution – only a short delay.

This has gone on long enough. At this point, government needs to act.

When I raised the idea of expropriation in the Legislature, the Minister of Housing told me: “As the member knows, we can’t expropriate this land. It wouldn’t be for infrastructure needs for the greater of the province.”

I have since looked at the legislation governing the PEI Housing Corporation. The PEI Housing Corporation Act states in Subsection 7(2)(n) “subject to the approval of the Lieutenant Governor in Council, without the consent of the owner, enter upon, take and expropriate any land which the Corporation considers necessary for the purpose of any of its undertakings or for a purpose relative to the use, construction, maintenance or repair of any of its undertakings and in such cases the Expropriation Act.”

The PEI Housing Corporation exists to ensure Islanders have access to safe, affordable and adequate housing. The Minister and his department should be well aware of this power and, in my opinion, this is a reasonable situation in which to use this power.

This is not about giving a landlord whatever price they demand. It is about determining a fair value for the property and using the tools available to government to protect 57 families from losing their homes.

Two years of negotiations have not produced a solution. The residents are now having to fight through the regulatory process, pay legal fees, all while living with the constant possibility of losing their homes.

We cannot keep asking these families to wait. Government has options at its disposal to help these Islanders. It is time to use them. The residents of Evergreen Village need more than promises and empty words, they need government to act.

Matt MacFarlane
MLA Borden-Kinkora
Leader of the Green Party of PEI

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 24, 2026 Statement from Matt MacFarlane: Government must act now to protect families at Evergreen Village Charlottetown, PE – Two years ago when 57 families at Evergreen Village in Summerside were served eviction notices by their landlord, the then-Minister of Housi...

09/23/2026

Statement from Tayte Willows, MLA for District 16 Cornwall-Meadowbank calling on PC government to work with, not against, our Island nurses:

PEI is struggling with healthcare access, and the last thing Islanders need is for the frontline workers who keep our healthcare system running to feel like they aren’t being heard.

PEI nurses have been working without a contract since April 2025 and last week the PEI Nurses’ Union shared it has now spent 32 days at the bargaining table without what it describes as meaningful movement from the employer. Their concerns include retention, overtime incentives, wages and other issues that directly affect our ability to attract nurses to PEI and keep them here for the long-term.

We need our leaders to be working in good faith with frontline healthcare workers, not leaving them feeling like they have to fight just to be heard.

This isn’t just happening to nurses. Our office has heard from physicians, radiation technologists, dietary staff, pharmacy technicians and more who all feel like they are not being heard by this government.

When we don’t have enough frontline workers, hospital beds close, wait times grow, services are reduced and healthcare access suffers. We can build new buildings but if there is no one to staff them, there are no improvements in access and quality of care. We need to make sure we are keeping the frontline healthcare workers we already have and creating the conditions that will bring more of them to PEI.

What’s more, while stonewalling in the negotiation process, this government spends tens of millions of taxpayer dollars on private travel nurses every year. Just last year over $40 million was spent on off-Island travel nurses.

So I have a simple question: if this government can find tens of millions of dollars for private staffing agencies, why can’t it find the money to properly recruit, retain and support our Island nurses?

We need to invest in Island workers to build a healthcare system that Islanders can count on.

Tayte Willows
MLA Cornwall-Meadowbank
Third Party Critic for Health and Wellness

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 23, 2026 Statement from MLA Tayte Willows calling on PC government to work with, not against, our Island nurses Charlottetown, PE – PEI is struggling with healthcare access, and the last thing Islanders need is for the frontline workers who keep our healthcare syste...

09/18/2026

Statement from Green Leader Matt MacFarlane on Interim Report on IRAC Review:

Earlier today the Interim Report on the Review of the Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission (IRAC) was released. There are some good recommendations here, particularly the recognition that IRAC’s extraordinarily broad mandate should be separated into more specialized bodies, and that patronage appointments be replaced with an open and transparent merit-based process.

But Islanders didn’t need another expensive review to tell us that.

For years, Islanders have been raising concerns about transparency, accountability, land protection, and electricity regulation. The Green Party has listened to those concerns and has already called for IRAC to be dismantled, and its responsibilities moved to independent, specialized bodies.

What concerns me is that the report stops short of what is really needed. The report calls for IRAC to remain in place during the transition, with the current IRAC leadership directing the process of establishing the new boards. That raises a fundamental question: if the culture and structure of IRAC are part of the problem, why are we asking the existing institution to lead its own transformation?

We need to be honest about the problem in order to find the right solution.

The Green Party believes that successive Liberal and PC governments have allowed political patronage and a lack of transparency to become embedded in the way important public appointments and decisions are made. You cannot fix that culture simply by rearranging the organizational chart. This is not about blaming individual commissioners or staff. It is about recognizing that institutions develop cultures, and those cultures can become deeply entrenched.

If we are serious about rebuilding Islanders’ trust, we need to start fresh.

The Green Party is calling for IRAC to be dismantled and rebuilt, with clear, independent mandates for energy and utilities, land protection and appeals. As the report acknowledges, appointments must be transparent, merit-based and made with Islanders’ best interests at the centre, not through political connections.

There are good ideas in this report. But the next step cannot simply be moving responsibilities around and putting the same system in charge of the transition. Islanders deserve more than a new structure. They deserve a new culture of transparency, independence, and accountability.

We’ve been listening to Islanders for years. Now it’s time to act.

Matt MacFarlane
MLA Borden-Kinkora
Leader of the Green Party of Prince Edward Island

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 18, 2026 Statement from Green Leader Matt MacFarlane on Interim Report on IRAC Review Charlottetown, PE – Earlier today the Interim Report on the Review of the Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission (IRAC) was released. There are some good recommendations here, pa...

09/16/2026

Ice cream season isn't over yet! Join Leader of the Green Party of Prince Edward Island and MLA for District 19 Borden-Kinkora Matt MacFarlane for an ice cream social at Somerset Ice Cream Bar on Saturday, September 26th from 1-3pm. 🍦☀

09/11/2026

Statement from Tayte Willows, MLA for District 16 Cornwall-Meadowbank: PEI’s Chronic Disease Framework Must Now Be Turned into Action for Islanders

I've read the recently released Chronic Disease Framework for Prince Edward Island in full, and there's real value in seeing prevention, early detection, and management brought together in one place, alongside a clear commitment to health equity and a person-centred approach to care.

The thousands of Islanders living with chronic disease, and the family members, healthcare providers, and community groups who are supporting them, need more than a shared vision. They need a plan.

This framework rightly names collaboration between government, Health PEI, community partners, and residents as central to better outcomes. Now is the moment to build on that foundation with the harder work: an operational plan with timelines, funding, and accountability attached. That means following through on the public policy decisions that move the needle on physical activity, smoking rates and other risk factors, expanding coverage for the technologies and treatments that keep people well, and updating the legislation that lets team-based, collaborative care actually work in practice - not just on paper.

The framework talks about Islanders as partners in their own care, and that's the right instinct. In practice, this means investing in self-management. Self-management is more than patient education. It involves truly centering the person and their priorities throughout their care journey. It means equipping them with the tools to manage their symptoms and strive for living their best lives. And it requires establishing clear avenues to access care when they need it.

PEI has many assets that can support the prevention, early detection, and effective management of chronic disease: strong community ties, committed health professionals, and now a shared framework to build from. Let's use it as a starting point, not a finish line. The growing burden of chronic disease on this Island won't wait for another round of planning. Islanders deserve to see this framework turned into action, with clear next steps and a public accountability of progress.

Tayte Willows
MLA Cornwall-Meadowbank
Third Party Critic for Health and Wellness

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 11, 2026 Statement from MLA Tayte Willows: PEI’s Chronic Disease Framework Must Now Be Turned into Action for Islanders Charlottetown, PE – I’ve read the recently released Chronic Disease Framework for Prince Edward Island in full, and there’s real value in se...